Question of the Day: What Do Other Drivers Do to Drive You Crazy?

by Jonny Lieberman

Published: March 3rd, 2008

question of the day what do other drivers do to drive you crazy

I was getting dinner with auto-journal colleague Mike Bumbeck. We were sitting in the left turn lane behind a minivan, about to turn onto a four lane street. The minivan is going slowly. It appears to be heading into the left most lane. OK, I think, I'll swing into the right lane and go around the lumbering kiddie carrier. Suddenly, from the left lane, the white blob cuts hard right, swinging in front of me and heading into the strip mall. "Crazy Ivan! Crazy Ivan!" Bumbeck shouts, referencing The Hunt For Red October. If you've forgotten, submarines can't look behind them– the propellers cause enough noise and disturbance to effectively create a sonar gap. Russian subs took to the practice of suddenly making sharp turns in order to look behind them. Bumbeck said he developed the term when he used to ride motorcycles. The good news? My car has great brakes. What driving habits really piss you off? [Look for former Car and Driver editor Stephan Wilkinson's feelings on the subject in an editorial tomorrow.]

Jonny Lieberman

Cleanup driver for Team Black Metal V8olvo.

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4 of 84 comments

L47_V8 on Mar 04, 2008
CupcakeF : March 4th, 2008 at 12:26 pm Its not that I’m trying to be an ass, its just that theres a pothole every 5 feet in the right lane because noone in the DoT cares about state highways in rural areas. And if I’m going at or over the speed limit people are passing me, then they need to slow the hell down. Theres a speed limit for a reason. Do you really drive like this? You're one of the problems the rest of us are complaining about, then. It's okay for YOU to go over the speed limit when YOU feel like it, but it's not okay for anyone else to break it when YOU don't feel they should be? That's absurd, self-centered, dangerous, discourteous, and all manner of wrong, really. You shouldn't be allowed to drive if you drive that militantly on purpose.

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L47_V8 on Mar 04, 2008
TexasAg03 : March 4th, 2008 at 2:20 pm but I refuse to drive in a pothole infested lane just so I don’t “impede traffic” because some 22 year old college kid wants to go 90 in his dad’s ford F-250 That’s fine, but you can still be cited for impeding traffic, regardless of the speed, age, or vehicle’s ownership status. The law says the left lane is for passing only and you can get a ticket for staying in it. It’s rude to camp out in the left lane when other people want to pass. Period.’ Get over yourself. Thank you.

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Anonymous on Mar 04, 2008

Okay, Cupcake, you need to learn to share. Ditto to the other commenters' replies.

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TexasAg03 on Mar 05, 2008

I just remembered another one: People who drive with their fog lights on in clear conditions or a very light rain. I have asked people why they do this and the most popular response is that they are "driving lights". The second most popular response is that they illuminate that 10-20 feet of road directly in front of the car that the headlights shine above. Of course, I inform them that even at 30 mph (44 fps), they cannot react fast enough to make that helpful.

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